Law Commons^™

Law Clerks Out Of Context, Parker B. Potter Jr.

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “In a previous article, I examined judicial opinions in cases in which law clerks have gone wild, principally by doing things that law clerks just aren‘t supposed to do, such as convening court, conducting independent factual investigations into matters before their judges, or leaking drafts of opinions to the press. Here, I focus on opinions in federal cases that discuss two other categories of unusual law-clerk activity, serving as a source of evidence, and going to court, as a litigant.

The article is informed by my ten years of experience as a trial court law clerk in the state …

Foodshed Foundations: Law's Role In Shaping Our Food System's Future, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[. . .] This symposium Article analyzes how we can rethink the architecture of law based on a foodshed model to provide a greater role for local, state, and regional government in the American food system. In turn, greater roles for different levels of government may help America achieve greater efficiencies in domestic food safety, nutrition and related public health issues, sustainability, and international trade.

Americans need a greater voice in the food system. The foodshed model is a powerful vehicle that allows us to conceptualize change, allowing greater citizen participation and a more nuanced approach to food policy. The …

Over 3 Million Low-Income Children In Rural Areas Face Cut In Child Tax Credit If Recovery Act Improvement Expires, Arloc Sherman, Marybeth J. Mattingly

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

According to this new research, at the end of 2010, the Child Tax Credit improvements that were included in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will expire if Congress does not extend them. If this happens, low-income working families across America will be affected.

The Fluctuating Workweek: How It Works, How It’S Treated, How It’S Perceived, Anthony J. Galdieri

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “This article argues that the fluctuating workweek method of overtime compensation is a viable alternative to the traditional method of overtime compensation. First, it will explain how the fluctuating workweek works and how state courts have treated it. Second, it will debunk several misconceptions about the fluctuating workweek. Finally, it will show that employers are working small numbers of employees for long hours because paying overtime is cheaper today than hiring new employees.

Information Literacy Plans: Does Your Law Library Need One?, Judith Gire

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Although information literacy plans were initiated by and for academe, there is no reason they will not work in any law library. Information literacy is about preparing patrons with the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and effectively use information throughout their lives, including their lives in law firms, corporations, government agencies and courts, as well as law schools. An institutional information literacy plan makes perfect sense for any law library in the business of equipping patrons to manage the information age like pros regardless of whether those patrons are law clerks, associates, partners, judges, or law students. And isn’t …

A Fourth Amendment For The Poor Alone: Subconstitutional Status And The Myth Of The Inviolate Home, Jordan C. Budd

Law Faculty Scholarship

For much of our nation’s history, the poor have faced pervasive discrimination in the exercise of fundamental rights. Nowhere has the impairment been more severe than in the area of privacy. This Article considers the enduring legacy of this tradition with respect to the Fourth Amendment right to domestic privacy. Far from a matter of receding historical interest, the diminution of the poor’s right to privacy has accelerated in recent years and now represents a powerful theme within the jurisprudence of poverty. Triggering this development has been a series of challenges to aggressive administrative practices adopted by localities in the …

Handcrafted Collaborative Copyright, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

Tribute essay to Dean Laura Gasaway's tenacious and fearless information access advocacy.

Modeling The Effects Of Peremptory Challenges On Jury Selection And Jury Verdicts, Roger Allen Ford

Law Faculty Scholarship

Although proponents argue that peremptory challenges make juries more impartial by eliminating “extreme” jurors, studies testing this theory are rare and inconclusive. For this article, two formal models of jury selection are constructed, and various selection procedures are tested, assuming that attorneys act rationally rather than discriminate based on animus. The models demonstrate that even when used rationally, peremptory challenges can distort jury decision making and undermine verdict reliability. Peremptory challenges systematically shift jurors toward the majority view of the population by favoring median jurors over extreme jurors. If the population of potential jurors is skewed in favor of conviction …

Llne Letter To Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Susan Drisko Zago

Law Faculty Scholarship

A letter from Law Librarians of New England President Susan Drisko Zago urging Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to restore funding to the State Library of Massachusetts for FY 2010 and subsequent years to a realistic level needed to maintain and increase its collections and services.

Space Age Love Song: The Mix Tape In A Digital Universe, Megan M. Carpenter

Law Faculty Scholarship

Music sharing is one of the most controversial topics in copyright law. And mix tapes have been the classic, iconic form of music sharing for the last 30 years. Even in the face of technological development so rapid and far-reaching as to remove the literal “tape” from “mix tape,” there are nonetheless modern incarnations that crop up on a regular basis, from mix CDs to mix-sharing websites. Social norms permit and even encourage the creation of these modern mix tapes for such diverse reasons as wedding favors and birthday gifts.

If copyright law is meant to promote creativity and proscribe …